Columbia second-year head coach Aaron Breitman, second from left, poses with his asssitant coaches, from left, Chenae Earle, Stevana Sims and Willy Sumner, after a team pracice on Tuesday, Dec. 3. The four coaches are Columbia alumni. (Photo by Joe Ragozzino)
MAPLEWOOD/SOUTH ORANGE, NJ — This season’s Columbia High School girls basketball team features athleticism and talented youth, much to second-year head coach Aaron Breitman’s delight.
“We’re fast and athletic,” said Breitman after the team’s practice at CHS on Tuesday, Dec. 3. “We’re very good in transition. I think we are going to surprise a lot of teams.”
The Cougars, coming off a 10-16 season, will look to replace several graduated players, most notably Talia Baptiste, who scored 1,023 points in her CHS career. She is currently playing at Division 1 Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck.
The Cougars will host Caldwell in the season opener on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 7 p.m.
This year’s team will be led by the guard/forward Campbell Connell, the lone senior starter.
The four-year letterwinner is a hard worker who leads by example, Breitman lauded.
“She is smart and mature,” he said. “She makes the right decisions and the right plays. We depend on her to be at the right spot at the right time.”
Gabi Ervin is another returning player. As a freshman last season, she gained valuable experience and worked hard in the offseason.
Ervin is the team’s most skilled player, Breitman said.
Returning sophomore JoJo Yarde also showed much promise last year. She brings much athleticism and will surprise a lot of people this season, said Breitman, a 2008 CHS graduate.
Yarde and returning junior Sara Marley are the team’s defensive anchors, Breitman noted.
With continued hard work and improvement, the Cougars hope to make a strong run this season.
Notes – Breitman was an assistant coach for the team for three seasons under Chuck Keegan, who is now the head boys basketball coach at West Orange High School.
Breitman letterered in four sports at CHS: football, basketball, baseball and track and field.
Breitman’s three assistant coaches also are CHS graduates. They are Chenae Earle, Stevana Sims and Willy Sumner. Earle and Sims are 2009 graduates and Sumner is 2008 graduate, like Breitman. The Cougars have moved down to the Liberty Division of the Super Essex Conference, after being in the SEC’s top division, the American Division, for the past few years.
The Liberty Division is the second-highest of the six divisions in the conference.
The other teams in the Liberty Division are Caldwell, Newark Central, Nutley, Payne Tech and West Essex.
CHS schedule
Dec. 17: Caldwell, 7 p.m.
Dec. 19: at Payne Tech, 4 p.m.
Dec. 23: Morristown, 1 p.m.
Dec. 27-28: at Bound Brook tournament
Jan. 4: at Cedar Grove, 11:30 a.m.
Jan. 7: Newark Central, 7 p.m.
Jan. 9: to be determined.
Jan. 11: at Union, 1 p.m.
Jan. 14: at North Plainfield, 6 p.m.
Jan. 16: at West Essex, 7 p.m.
Jan. 17: Bloomfield, 7 p.m.
Jan. 21: Nutley, 7 p.m.
Jan. 23: at Caldwell, 4 p.m.
Jan. 25: Newark Academy, 11:30 a.m.
Jan. 28: Payne Tech, 4 p.m.
Feb. 4: at Newark Central, 7 p.m.
Feb. 13: West Essex, 4 p.m.
Feb. 19: at Nutley, 4 p.m.
Feb. 21: at Newark Academy, 4 p.m.
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